The Marauders Night
by Fleur Delacour5
Summary: Its the Marauders 5th year and the year James and Lily fall in love. It explores life with the Marauders and life with Voldemort in full Power.
1. Jinx and the Chocolate Covered Frog

Light streaked across the room, brightening the pale blue walls as Tubby the house elf stretched to open the navy blue curtains. Tubby was different from most house elves, she was short and fat and wore, instead of the usual pillow case or potato sack, a pretty purple dress made out of left over curtains. House elves are not to be given clothing by their master unless to free the house elf, however, the Potters made it clear to Tubby that she was free to make her own clothes out of left over curtain fabric. Her nose was wide and swollen and her eyes were bright orange. She quietly scuffled around the room trying not to wake the person sleeping in the bed but Tubby was a clumsy elf and she tripped over an old broomstick dropping the colossal sized basket of robes she was carrying.

"Oh Good morning Tubby thank you for cleaning my robes for me I'll be needing to pack them for the trip to Hogwarts this week." James lifted his head up and turned leaning on one elbow to face Tubby. "I'm sure you have many more things to do than take care of me Ms. Tubby. You can go back downstairs and have some breakfast if you want."

Tubby 's fat cheeks blushed as he spoke to her, she was always embarrassed when one of her masters acknowledged her. This meant she was not doing her job correctly. House elves are not to be noticed. "Tubby is so sorry Mr. Potty. P-potter Tubby means. Tubby is not being a good elf to day. Tubby is making loud noises and waking Mr. Potter up."

"It is quite alright with me if you want to come wake me up everyday. There is no sense in me being so lazy and sleeping half the day away." James said still laying on the bed looking quite sleepy with his green eyes and wild black hair resting everywhere on his head. "I tell you what, why don't you open Jinx's cage and then go downstairs and see if Mum needs you for anything. Thank you Tubby."

"Yes sir. Mr. Potter" and with that Tubby clumsily left the room a few seconds later, James heard a metal cling and Jinx flew in and rested on one of James' bedpost.

James rolled over and looked out the window. Without even looking at the clock on the wall he knew it was very early. The sun was just peeking over the hills outside of James' room. He looked down at the floor and saw the broom that Tubby had tripped over and silently wished he could hop on the broom and go soaring in between the hills outside of his window. He wished he could feel the wind blowing through his already tousled hair. Only a few more days and he'd have free reign of the Quidditch field at Hogwarts. Soon he could fly as high and for as long as he wanted.

James laid flat on his bed again daydreaming of catching the golden snitch and winning the red haired girls attention when Jinx nipped his toe that had came out from under the blanket. "Ouch. Looks like I've outgrown my blanket and my bed." He thought to himself.

James sat up and slid his legs off the side of the bed. He walked over to the dresser on the other side of the room and opened a chocolate covered frog box. Walking away, he left the open box on the dresser and watched as the frog hopped out and off of the dresser. In a matter of seconds the owl was chasing the frog around the room. James enjoyed watching the white owl hop around after the chocolate frog. The frog gave one last leap into the air and Jinx swooped down and caught it. Jinx was a white snowy owl with big, bright blue eyes. Her parents had given her to James for a Christmas gift during his first year at Hogwarts. She was a comical owl although she could be a bit snobbish when needed. She was perfect for James. She loved affection and loved to have fun, and not to mention she loved chocolate.

James grabbed a royal blue robe out of the basket that Tubby left, slipped in over his shoulders and stuck his arms through the sleeves as he entered the kitchen.

"Mmm, Do I smell breakfast?" James kissed his mother on the cheek and headed out to check the mail when she stopped him.

"Good Morning James." His mother looked him over and laughed. "Have you been too busy daydreaming to realize that you have grown out of your robes?"

James had been busy daydreaming. But it was normal to see him lost in his own world, daydreaming of Quidditch, exploring the enchanted castle, trips to Hogsmeade, but most of all dreaming of some mystery girl. His mother always knew when he was daydreaming about her because his eyes sparkled even more; they lit up and shone a bright green. If he wasn't careful he'd go in to a daydream right now, but his thoughts were interrupted by his father entering the kitchen.

James looked down and saw his wrists jutting out from the sleeves. He leaned even farther over and looked down to notice his robe came just below his knees. "I guess I have. Good thing we're heading to Diagon Alley today." he said between spurts of laughter. He had grown out of his robes and his blankets on his bed. In fact over the years he had become an extremely good-looking young man. His bright green eyes glittered and set off his tan skin and untamed hair. He was the seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team so he kept in shape. His chest poked through his now seemingly small robe. His muscles perfectly etched. His long legs made him seem extremely tall.

He was easily the most attractive boy at Hogwarts. The only boys who even compared to him were Sirius Black, James' longtime friend and Luscious Malfoy. Sirius Black and James were both 6th year Gryffindors and had been friends since their first year. Luscious Malfoy was a vile seventh year Slytherin.

Just as James expected Luna the family owl had arrived with the mail. A letter addressed to James sat on top. It was written on fancy parchment with fancy lettering. But James was not as impressed this year as he was his first year. He opened the letter on the way to back to the kitchen and read of his list of school supplies. "2 Dress Robes, new quills, cauldron.. I've still got a good one. Oh we get to wear any color robe we choose this year. Some sort of privilege for 6th and 7th years. That's should be nice." He said to himself as he began to imagine the girls in all different colors and styles.

He stepped into the kitchen looking excited. James loved going to Diagon Alley. He enjoyed being immersed in the excitement. He enjoyed meeting the strange wizards and witches that frequented Diagon alley but most of all he was excited to see his friends that he hadn't seen since the trip back to Platform 9 and ¾ last summer.

"Good Morning, I see you're excited for school to start." James' dad had taken his usual spot at the table along with his mother. James laid the school list aside and sat down at the table with his mother and father.

"I can't wait." James said as he began to eat the breakfast Tubby had served him.


	2. Diagon Alley

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were huddled together with a group of young wizards and witches looking in the window of one of the many shops on Diagon Alley. They were admiring all the practical joke supplies from the window, waiting for Peter Pettigrew and James Potter to arrive.

"Ooh those filibuster fireworks would work great. Oh but what about those exploding quills?" Remus and Sirius were so engulfed in creating the loudest and most embarrassing practical joke that they didn't notice James until he was right behind them.

"Busy planning our next great feat are we?" James grinned a mischievous grin and turned to his mom and dad. "You remember Sirius and Remus right?"

"Oh yes, I believe they were mentioned in a few of the letters sent home to inform us of your detentions. " His mother a boys will be boys look when James' father spoke.

"James meet us at Rubies Robe shop in half an hour your mother and I are going to have a drink at the Leaky Cauldron we've got some friends to meet and then we'll be ready to finish your shopping." With that, James' Parents gave him a big smile and went on their way.

The boys entered Merlin's Mischief's to stock up on practical joke supplies. While they were looking atinsulting mirrors Peter Pettigrew joined them. The four boys were known as the Marauders around Hogwarts. They were also known for their practical jokes and extreme intelligence (when it comes to magic).

The boys finally decided on their first practical joke and bought enough supplies to last them until their first weekend trip to Hogsmeade. Their bags were full of cackling cauldrons, the kind that collapse when used in potions causing cackles from all the students: acid pops, and filibuster fireworks.

The boys said there goodbyes and James met his parents at Rubies Robe Shop. His mother had taken to the idea of trying new robe colors so she had him try on all sorts of robes. He stepped out of the dressing room with a dark purple robe on. It was one of the dress robes he was trying on. It was light weight and sophisticated. His shiny new dress shoes looked perfect under it. The bottom hem was sewn with silver moons and stars which help to set off the deep purple of the robe. He turned to show his mom how it looked from the back when he noticed a beautiful red-head on the other side of the shop. She had just come out of the dressing room wearing a dark green robe made out of flowy material. It set off her fiery hair and made her look absolutely radiant. James was so caught up by her that he didn't notice that his mom was talking to him.

"Oh sorry, I was daydreaming again I guess. Can we hurry this along I told my friends I'd meet them later." So finally he decided on the purple dress robe and a deep red dress robe for his two required dress robes and an array of different colored robes for everyday wear. His mother went to pay for his things while he slipped across the shop to the dressing room where the red head was.

He waited a few minutes and then she opened the door and stepped out. She was wearing a golden yellow dress robe with green flecks on the hems. James would normally despise these colors but they matched her hair perfectly and lit her eyes up. She turned to look in the mirror and bumped into James. His strong arms caught her, holding on a little too long, and then he gently let her go. "Oh James, Hi. I didn't see you there." She stopped waiting for a reply but James was distracted by how gorgeous she looked. She noticed him looking at her so she turned around slowly and asked, "So how do I look?" Her hair fell in scarlet curls gently on her shoulders and reaching to the middle of her back. The robe gathered at the waste and hung gently on her hips, showing off her curves.

"A-mmazing. I mean great you look great." James tried to play it off but it was too late she had caught him. "So you're here by yourself?" He asked

"Yeah my mum and dad are too unfamiliar with the wizarding world they always get in the way." Lily replied. She was Lily Evans, she had also been a friend of James since the first year. They were more like acquaintances until they became Prefects and for some reason kept running into each other in the Prefects bathroom. Her parents and sister were all muggles. He understood, but he didn't think she should be in Diagon Alley alone.

"So, where are you staying tonight?" He inquired. His eyes darted towards the counter where his mother was just finishing paying for his things. He ran his hands through his wild hair making it stick up even more.

"Um I've got a room above the leaky cauldron for the night. I saw Sirius and Remus checking in also. They somehow talked their parents into letting them stay too." Lily said. "We're having dinner around here later if you'd like to join us."

"Okay, I'll talk to my parents and meet you by Ollivander's Wand Shop at 7:00 okay?" He winked and turned to leave but not before she answered him with a simple yes and a big smile.

James' parents seemed relieved when he asked to take a room in Diagon Alley instead of going home. They said they had a few business matters to take care of and left him with a large bag of money and a goodbye. They said they would meet him at platform 9 and ¾ tomorrow before he left.

James met up with Lily, Sirius, and Remus at 7:00. The only one missing was Peter but his parents were so protective of him that none of the other four expected him to show anyway. They all walked down to a little restaurant called Tort and Shall where a tall waitress greeted them. She was so tall that she had to bend down to take their orders. When she left the boys had a horrible time trying to contain their laughter. The four of them each ordered Butterbeer but it was nothing like the Butterbeer from Honeydukes. The four enjoyed conversations of Quidditch strategies for the new year, how much they hated the Slytherins and who the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher will be.

"I heard that Professor Bumtig got called into work with the Ministry of Magic and that's why we have a new professor this year." Said Remus. Ever since Voldemort came into power, a few years ago Dumbledore had been extremely selective on the teachers he chose. "This year I hear we are going into deep dark arts we'll even learn some of the curses. Even the unforgivable curses." Remus said excitedly.

"Err I don't know if I want to learn those. Arent you a little too excited about those Remus? Asked Lily.

Why would they call away Professor Bumtig away, what is so bad that they need him?" asked Sirius.

"Hey guys, Lily is getting uncomfortable lets talk about something else." James shot a glance at Lily and she was chewing nervously on her straw. He hated to see her looking so upset. Her bright green eyes were dulled and were darting across the room. "Hey lets go get some candy and hang out in one of our rooms." James suggested. James had decided to room with the other two boys.

The four walked to Wallabees Candy shop and grabbed as many chocolate covered frogs, fizzing whizbees and Bertie Botts Every flavor beans as they could and headed back to the boys' room. The four of them played exploding snap until they couldn't stay awake anymore. "I'm tired guys, I think I am going to head back to my room." Lily sleepily said.

"I'll walk you." James said. He had thrown his robe over the post of one of the beds and was wearing muggle clothes underneath. He had on a vintage rock t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

They walked to her room and she rustled around in her robe pockets looking for her key. She unlocked the door and James followed her in. "Are you sure you'll be alright. I can stay for a little while to make sure your okay." He offered.

"That would be nice.," She said as she unbuttoned her robe. She had clothes on underneath but she still felt awkward taking it off in front of him. He must have noticed because he turned to look at something he found interesting on the nightstand. When he turned around she had laid the robe on her bed and was wearing a black tank top and a pair of shorts.

The door to the Leaky Cauldron was directly beneath Lily's room and just as James was going to comment on how good she looked a loud bang came from down stairs. The noise startled Lily and she grabbed James.

She laughed, "Well, I guess you guys really got me scared with all that Voldemort talk. I mean uh-"

But James cut her off, "You're not afraid to call him by his name? No one else I know does that. I think it adds to his power to be afraid to say his name. So I say it too" He was astonished, he thought she was the type of girl who would cower in the corner rather than face what she was scared of.

"I'm sorry." She shifted her gaze to his lips and then up to his eyes. "So you know I'm not as scared as most girls but its only because you're here. If you weren't here I'd have myself in pieces imagining all sorts of crazy things."

The two flopped down on the bed and talked until early morning. They fell asleep and didn't wake up until Remus and Sirius knocked on Lily's door.

On the train to Hogwarts, Sirius, James, Peter and Remus all had a compartment to themselves. "So you were just walking her to her room huh? Yeah I bet." Sirius joked with James.

"We didn't do anything, we watched some boring show and fell asleep an hour or two before you two woke us up. _What did you two boys do all alone_?" James knew that by turning the tables he would get them off his back,

"That's not even funny." Sirius replied. Of course it was funny, Sirius was so good looking that he could have as many girls as he wanted.

"Excuse me but last time I checked, Sirius wasn't a girl and even if he was he wouldn't be a pretty one." Remus laughed at his own joke and then went back to being mad at James for his remark.

"Wait a minute, you checked to see if he was a boy?" All four of them chuckled. Sirius got up and said, "I'm going to go see what Melinda Burton is doing. She's the blonde fifth year you know."

"Yeah, we know. You don't have to leave. We are just teasing you" James, Remus and Peter all laughed at Sirius for being so uncomfortable. They all knew he was head over heels for Melinda. Sirius gave in and took a seat next to Peter.

The boys were so tired from staying up so late last night that they could hardly keep their eyes open. They were about to doze off when Lily slid their compartment door open. "Okay, I'm sorry but you're going to have to make room for me, The girls in my compartment are being so giggly that I want to vomit. I am too tired to listen to how cute the boys in compartment 12 are." Lily lazily leaned on the doorway.

The boys must have been tired enough to be slaphappy, because they burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing at me. You guys kept me up so late. I'm trying to not be as grumpy." She was definitely unhappy that the boys were laughing at her.

"Lily, were not laughing at you." James said as he scooted over to make a spot for her to sit down "Do you know which compartment you are in?"

"No and I didn't know it mattered. Oh, " She sighed " I'm in the twelfth bloody compartment aren't I? Well that should give the girls something else to giggle about." And she leaned her head against the compartment wall until she and the rest of the boys fell asleep.

The four boys and Lily woke when the train reached Hogwarts, which meant they had missed the little witch with the food cart and their stomachs were considerably empty. They all quickly put their robes on and stepped outside of the compartment.

"Hello, Lily, James, Others. I see you were too tired to play any jokes on other students. Lucky for you because I'm a prefect this year." Just like every year Severus Snape stood outside of their compartment with his beady eyes glaring. He was so full of hate towards the Marauders ever since their second year when they caught him breaking a school rule and blackmailed him the rest of the year.

"No Severus you're wrong again. We don't play jokes on other students; we play jokes on you. You'll never learn." Sirius was tired of Snape's attitude before he even began.

"Things will be different this year." And Snape turned on his heels and left the compartment.

"How can things be different this year? Didn't he say the same thing last year? If that's the case, he's not off to a good start. He deserves what he gets." Remus stated once the five of them had squeezed into one of the horseless coaches.


	3. The Apprenticeship

"Right Firs' years out o' the boats. Make yer way to the staircase wher' Professor McGonagall will have a few words wit ya." Hagrid an overly large man said as he lifted the littlest ones out of the boats. "Seems like they get tinier and tinier each year." He mumbled to himself.

"Hagrid!" The four boys had split from the group of sixth years heading to the hall. Lily caught up with a few of her friends and took a seat at the Gryffindor table while the boys went to talk to Hagrid.

"Well hullo ther' boys ent' yeh supposed to be in the great hall? Professor Dumbledore has summat excitin' to tell yeh. Hurry up and catch up wit the rest of 'em. I'll be around later if you still wanna talk." Hagrid said with a twinkle in his eye.

The boys always liked to hear from Hagrid. Hagrid had a soft spot for dangerous, magical creatures and the boys couldn't wait to see which one he had stowed away this year.

"Ah, well its fine by me I'm starved. I wonder what Professor Dumbledore has to tell us." And the four marauders made their way into the great hall just as the sorting ceremony began.

The great hall was silent, and lit by hundreds of floating candles, although the room would have been bright enough without them. Some of the students were looking up at the ceiling which was an exact replica of the night sky right above the castle. It still felt summery outside and the stars were brightly lit.

Four long tables spread across the room and up in the front of the hall was the professor's table. Hagrid had taken his usual seat next to the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore whose eyes twinkled at the sight of all the new students. Professor McGonagall, seated next to Dumbledore, was a tight- faced woman with rosy cheeks and glistening eyes

Directly in front of the professors table was an old tattered hat on a three-legged stool. And much to the surprise of many of the first years, it began to sing. "Oh, you may not think I'm pretty." The students loved to hear what kind of song the hat would come up with each year.

When it was finished singing one-by-one the first years took a seat on the stool and the hat was placed on their heads. After a few seconds of what must be deliberation, the hat would shout one of four words: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, the names of the four houses at Hogwarts.

After all the first years were sorted and had taken their seats, Dumbledore stood up, mumbled a few words and flicked his wand. The candles above his head grew brighter and his voice became much louder as he cleared his throat. "Along with the rules that apply each year, we have been forced to take much stricter measures to ensure our students safety. Our new Defense against the Dark Arts Professor has decided to put his teachings into actions. Six students will be chosen to the Ministry of Magic as Junior Aurers. They will be accepted into apprentice positions and will be guaranteed a job when their courses with Hogwarts are completed. Those who exhibit outstanding knowledge and great magical power will be chosen to compete. I strongly encourage students to apply themselves this year."

There was a loud uproar as students excitedly talked about the new news.

I regret to inform you that this is available only to 5th years and above. Thank you and enjoy your meal." Dumbledore pointed his wand at his throat and said "Quietus" and his voice returned to normal.

The great hall became alive with the buzz of excited students. "I cant believe this! They've never offered apprenticeships before!"

James and Sirius were seated directly across from Lily, Peter, Remus and Maggie Moon, one of Lily's friends. They were all so excited about the news that they hadn't noticed that their plates had magically filled with food. Lily, coming from a muggle family didn't know as much about the wizarding world as she had wished. So she asked, "What exactly is an Auror?"

James, Sirius and Remus all started to fill her in at once. She doubted that Dumbledore would go for anything so dangerous. She listened intently while the three boys excitedly filled her in but she couldn't take her eyes off James. His eyes lit up and his wild hair seemed to dance with the movement of his head. She knew this was the kind of thing James and the other four lived for. Just listening to them made her want to try out for it.

It took the five of them a lot longer to become full because they had slept through the train ride so they were some of the last ones to leave and head up to the Gryffindor common room.

"No exploding snap for me tonight" Remus mumbled as he walked straight past a group of boys inviting him to join. He didn't even stop to apologize for stepping on Melvin Puffton's wand.

Sirius and the rest of the boys followed Remus just as tired. James, tried to follow the rest of the boys but a group of fourth and fifth year girls held him back.

"You're the Gryffindor seeker right?" The oldest girl stepped out. She had long brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her tan skin matched her perfectly manicured nails. She tapped her wand in her hand as if she were a teacher demanding an answer.

"Yes." James looked around quickly. He liked attention from girls but the attention he wanted was coming from the bottom of the stairs that led to the girls dormitory.

Lily stood there for a second or two contemplating whether or not to save him from the girls. After a few seconds she thought better of it. "Besides, what if he doesn't want rescued? And if he does, is it me he wants to rescue him?" With one last glance she turned to go up to the dorm room.

James ruffled his hair with his hands and looked to see if Lily would turn around again. She didn't, but the girls who were surrounding him didn't know that, so he winked in her direction. All the girls turned to see who he had winked at in just enough time to see Lily's red hair bouncing up the stairs.

The oldest girl noticed the way he looked at her and a twinge of jealousy ran through her. She turned back towards James, flipping her long hair as she did. "I'm Venus. We'd like- I mean I'd like to know if you'd give me flying lessons sometime." A younger girl with straight black hair nudged her in the side and Venus gave her a disapproving glance.

James knew what she was doing but it was a chance for him to get to fly. He was the only one the flying instructor let tutor other students. He didn't like to make a big deal out of it, but he flying was his favorite past time and any chance to fly was worth it. He rested his hand on his stomach and then raised his hand to make a path through the girls that had cornered him. "Sure, just let me know when." And with that James walked through the girls on the path he had created with his hand and up to his four-poster bed.

Downstairs in the common room, the group of girls had exploded into an argument. "Whats up Venus? We all wanted to be tutored by him, but you had to keep him to yourself." The black haired girl complained.

"You can ask him for yourself. I don't know why I have to do everything." She gave a straight-toothed grin and haughtily walked away.

Upstairs James had changed into his nightclothes and laid silently on his bed. He didn't want to tutor Venus; he wanted to tutor Lily. He could imagine them both flying together. He envisioned her nervously taking flight and somehow needing his help. He loved to rescue a damsel in distress. But Lily wasn't a damsel in distress; she definitely did not need his help with flying. She was almost as good as he was. She even played on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a chaser. He went back to imagining Lily and himself flying high above all the others and drifted off to sleep.

Lily rolled over and rustled the sheets on her bed. Why hadn't she helped him? She wondered if he was still downstairs, surrounded by all those girls. She hated the thought of the long brown haired girl enchanting him with the tap of her wand. But in the end she decided that her choice was the best. She would much rather him be surrounded by girls without her trying to rescue him than him not wanting her to rescue him at all. Lily stayed awake until she heard the rest of the girls return to their beds. From the lack of giggles she predicted that James had not charmed them to sniggering idiots. Instead he left them wishing for another chance to talk to him


	4. Quidditch Tricks

James woke up before any of the other students in his dormitory room. He grabbed his robes and quietly slipped out of the room. He slipped by the portrait of the fat lady and woke her with a start.

"What are you doing up so early? She asked sleepily.

"I've got to get my bath before the others so I might get to take a ride on my broomstick before classes." He gave a grin and she quickly caught on.

"Oh right, you're the Gryffindor star seeker. You've got to get your practice in." and she quickly dozed back off.

He walked past a window that showed the sun just peeking over the horizon. He entered the prefect's bathroom and walked past a picture of a beautiful mermaid basking in the morning sun. She heard him shut a door and slide into one of the bathtubs and she began to sing. James relaxed in the giant tub and fell asleep to the sound of her voice. He didn't stir until he heard the click of the door and someone walk into the main chamber of the bathroom. The mermaid had long since stopped her singing and now the song was replaced by a familiar female voice humming.

"_Oh no my clothes are on the other side of the door_." James panicked and looked around for anything to cover himself long enough to grab his clothes. There was a tall, thin shelf to hold shampoos and concoctions to make his hair even more wild and crazy or potions to tame his hair and brighten his complexion. But he didn't need any of those things to help him be more attractive. And he especially didn't need any of those things to cover himself up.

He lifted himself out of the tub and crept to the door. "Um, excuse me" he let a nervous laugh escape. "Do you think you could hand me my towel and robe? I forgot to bring it in with me." He asked

"James Potter is that you?" The girl from behind the door asked.

"Uh yeah. So could you?" He asked again.

"Sure, just a minute." A few seconds later a towel dropped from above the door.

"Umm there's no robe out here. All I found was your towel." The girl innocently replied.

James quickly wrapped the towel around his waste and hesitantly walked out. His hair was still wet but nothing could hold it down, so it was just as messy as if it were dry. He shook his head out of embarrassment when he noticed who the girl was.

Venus stood across the main chamber with his robe in her hand. "Is this yours?"

James stood against the door water dripped off his head and ran down his broad shoulders. His anger coated his embarrassment and he swiftly raised his hand towards the brunette and yelled, "Accio Robe". The robe slipped out of her snug grip and flew across the room to his hand.

Lily opened the door just as the robe flew across the room. She looked to her left and saw James standing with an angry look on his face. She turned to her right and saw Venus with a sly grin painted across her face. She realized what had happened as soon as she saw the look on both of their faces. She ignored Venus and stared at James. Did he know how cute he was when he was angry, not to mention the fact that all he had on was a towel and he was dripping wet.

"Playing a nasty joke on James are we? I would think that a mature fifth year like yourself would have outgrown such childish pranks." She laughed at herself, she knew that she and the four marauders had not outgrown childish pranks but it didn't hurt to call Venus on it. "The Gryffindor bathroom is almost empty if you need to use it, and this bathroom is reserved for prefects. I'm sure you must have slipped in on accident." Lily was proud of herself for being so rude to Venus.

Venus noticed the rudeness and quietly left the bathroom. James stood in awe, not bothering to put his robe on. He had regained his confidence "Thank you so much. You know I could have used your help last night. I don't know how I keep getting put in these situations. Having a girl like you around might just come in handy." He gave her a wink and returned to his stall to dry off and get dressed.

Lily quickly washed off and got dressed; she too had gotten up early to take a ride on her broomstick. James waited for her to finish and they both walked to the quidditch field together.

They both kicked off at the same time. Lily flew to the top of one of the stands and rested in the air. She loved to look down at all the seats and to see how far she could see. James, however, liked more action he circled the stands a few times and then dipped very close to the ground. This was one of his famous moves. He went straight down to the ground so close that it looked as if he would slam into it and then he turned completely around and headed straight up towards the clouds.

Lily watched as James flew. She loved to see how smooth he flew. When he was on a broom he was a different person. He didn't worry about anything except the broom and himself. James loved to do dangerous stunts with his broom. One of his favorites was the one he was performing now. He stood on his broom as if he were surfing, flying straight at one of the hoops and just as he got to the hoop, he jumped off. The broom flew through the hoop and his feet landed safely on the on the broomstick.

Lily flew to the middle of the pitch and waited to see the next stunt James would pull. But instead he flew in her direction and circled her a few times. She saw what he wanted so she flew under his broomstick and swerved in an out of the stands, with James following quickly behind her. She tried everything she could but she couldn't shake him off.

Finally she flew back into the center of the pitch to give up. She started to raise her hand to surrender but James flew straight at her. He only missed her by inches, blowing her hair away from her face. Just as he flew by her, he grabbed her hand and the force of which he flew, caught them up in a whirlwind.

They both spun around each other holding on by only one hand. Lily thought she was going to fly out of control. She was so afraid to look up, for some reason she thought that if she looked up she would lose control and go spinning into one of the stands. Finally she mustered enough courage to look up to see James' green eyes glittering manically. His lips were parted in one of the biggest smiles she had ever seen. She knew this look she saw this look on his face when he was about to catch the golden snitch.

James looked into her eyes. His heart was beating uncontrollably. He didn't want to let go of her hand for anything. So he raised his free hand and stopped their uncontrollable spinning. Her red locks slowly landed on her shoulders again she looked down at his free hand which was now resting on her broom. It seemed like they were stuck in time. Everything stopped around them as James leaned in and kissed her passionately. His lips were soft and warm; hers had a hint of cherry fizz pop. Lily thought her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Her free hand was shaking. James had not let go of her other hand.

"I think I'm going to fall off my broomstick." She said. His laughter broke the silence. He kissed her again quickly and grabbed her around her waste and pulled her onto his broom. He held tightly to her and raced to the ground.

"We've got to get to our first class. Or we'll be late. Its embarrassing to be late especially being a prefect" She laughed.

A large tabby cat sat on the desk in the front of the Transfiguration classroom. The sixth years were used to the cat with spots that resembled spectacles near its eyes. The cat blinked once and then transformed into Professor McGonagall.

"Now I know sixth years are used to my transformation, but you will all be happy to know that this year you will begin to learn to turn yourselves into an animal of your choice. We will spend the rest of the class choosing the animals you wish to turn yourselves into and going over the rules set by the ministry of magic that deal with Animagi.

Lily grinned at James. They had taken seats next to Sirius and Peter. Remus had taken sick already on the first day. The three boys had secretly already become animagi a few years ago. Lily, however had just become an Animagus. Last year after she caught the four boys in the act. The four of them knew they were going to have a hard time faking problems. If they were too good at transforming themselves, McGonagall would definitely know something was up.


	5. Disappearing Wands

The Gryffindor common room was empty except for the four marauders, Lily and Maggie Moon. Although there were plenty of empty seats, they six of them were scrunched around a table in the middle of the room. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all worked together and conjured up what they thought was the perfect table. The table stood one foot off the ground and was the shape of a crescent moon. Papers, elbows, quills, wands, and open books were scattered across the table.

"Umm this could be an odd question but is someone tickling my feet?" Sirius flashed a white, toothy grin to the other five. They all looked around with puzzled looks plastered across their faces. Finally James crouched down until his face almost touched the floor.

"Oh sorry, that's one of the feather quills I bewitched during Potions." James winked at Lily. The group burst out laughing.

"Thanks, we needed that to lighten up this oh so sad and wasted evening. I can't believe we have to spend one of the last remaining summer evenings in here doing homework. I think teachers who assign homework on a day like this should be sent to Azkaban." Remus said returning to his Divination predictions.

"That's a little harsh isn't it?" Maggie asked

"No, Can you believe Professor Auryl. I can't believe she assigned three weeks of predictions for Divination class. Isn't that all we do in Divination? What are we going to do for the rest of the semester?" Peter got so excited as he spoke, that he accidentally elbowed Maggie who spilled emerald green ink all over her robe.

"I'm so sorry. Here let me help you with that. Ummm what's that bloody spell?" Peter's cheeks turned a funny shade of purple.

"I believe it was Risidio." With a flick of his wand, Sirius caused the ink to disappear.

"You always have the right spells when it comes to the ladies." Remus nudged Sirius under the table.

Sirius was tall, with a thin muscular build. He had black hair just like James, except his was less messy. His skin was perfectly tan. Lily always wondered how he kept a perfect tan. She just assumed he spent his summers on some vacation island. "_Must be nice_." She thought to herself. To most of the girls at Hogwarts, James, Remus and Sirius were perfect. James with his untamed hair and glasses, Sirius with his beautiful pale blue eyes and Remus with his traditionally dazzling brown hair, brown eyes look.

Peter on the other hand was average. He had pale blonde hair and blue eyes. His face had a boyish look to it. Peter didn't look like he would fit in with the rest of the marauders. He was average and the others could make the girls melt with a simple smile or wink.

"Of course I have the right spells when it comes to the ladies- I have to impress Lily if I want her to do my homework for me." He grinned.

"You don't need any help with your homework and you definitely don't need to impress Lily. I think someone else has done that already." Remus and the other boys had caught on to Lily and James and now enjoyed teasing them about it.

"By the way boys, thanks for the table you conjured up. Am I the only one who is tired of doing predictions?" Lily gave an over exaggerated sigh and continued to scribble predictions for the next three weeks.

"Yeah why don't we say that in the next three weeks, Voldemor-" Remus, Sirius, Peter and Maggie all flinched at the sound of the dark lord's name. "I mean You-know-who will come to school in the form of a female student." By the way James' eyes flickered, the rest of the group knew he was up to something.

"Ooh yeah, and then we can say that Severus Snape will fall under a deep love spell for the new girl." Remus joined in and soon the whole group had created three weeks of Snape playing love slave to the mysterious girl/Voldemort incarnate.

A few minutes later, the six had all scribbled down their predictions of Snape aka He-who-must-not-be-named's lover.

"Thank goodness that's over. I'm going to bed. Goodnight guys." Maggie turned to leave and Peter quickly stood up.

"Um I'll walk you."

"Okay but its just up the stairs." Peter looked embarrassed at his suggestion but decided to walk her anyway.

"I'm going to bed also, so we can just walk together." Peter tried to recover from his embarrassment.

With Peter and Maggie gone to bed, the other four packed up their things and got rid of the table.

"Its only ten-thirty. What do you guys want to do?" James stood up and stretched.

"You know, we haven't played any jokes on the Slytherins yet. And I've got one in mind." Remus gave a sly grin to the other three.

"You two go ahead. I'll grab my invisibility cloak and we'll meet you in the dungeons right outside the Slytherin House." James said.

Remus and Sirius slid the portrait of the fat lady open and stepped outside. To avoid being caught by Filch the caretaker they transformed into Animagi. Remus a wolf and Sirius a big, jet black dog.

"Wait here while I run up to the boy's dorm room and grab my cloak." James grabbed Lily's hand, gave it a squeeze and quickly ran up the steps to the boy's dorm room.

Lily turned around and finished packing up her things. She slipped her wand into an inside pocket of her robes and stuffed her things under a chair. She heard soft steps coming down the stairs towards the common room and she quickly turned around.

Lily was surprised to see Venus coming down the stairs. Venus had her long brown hair brushed straight down her back. She wore a nightgown in the deepest blue that draped down to her ankles, showing her bare feet.

"Waiting for someone Lily?" Venus circled the red-head and then took a few steps back, placing her arm behind her back.

"Isn't it past your bedtime Venus?" Lily looked past Venus hoping to see James coming down the stairs.

"Lily, why do you speak to me with such venom? I see the way you look at James. And I don't blame you. For a girl like you, any attention from a boy is appreciated. Especially if its from the most popular guy in school. But are you sure he's not just trying to be nice. I mean. maybe he feels sorry for you." Even as she spoke it, Venus knew she was wrong. Lily had no trouble attracting boys. If Lily had a problem, it was because her beauty intimidated them.

Lily's face flushed with anger. Hot surges of fury raced through her. Lily grabbed her wand out of her robe and aimed it at Venus. But she was too late. Venus had her wand pointed at Lily at the same time. Lily looked around, "_Where is James? What is taking him so long_?" she thought.

"So is that what you're going to do? Put a spell on me so you can have James all to yourself?" Venus threw a fake smile.

Just as she opened her mouth to answer Venus, Lily felt a hand sweep across the back of her neck, rustling her hair. Her eyes widened and she almost shouted but she felt the hand again, running down her shoulder, across her forearm enveloping her fingers. Her hand magically raised a few inches and then she felt a familiar sensation. James had lifter her hand and kissed it. Lily wished he would show himself and stand up for her, but she knew he wouldn't.

James knew Lily didn't need his help. Lily knew exactly how James felt about her and nothing Venus could say would change that. James didn't want to see Venus and Lily in a spell-throwing contest so he silently grabbed both girls' wands and tucked them into his cloak.

Venus stood confused. "What the-? Where did my wand go? Oh I guess that was one of your little tricks. You knew you couldn't beat me, so you had to make my wand disappear. Good job Lily."

Lily smiled, she knew what James had intended to do. But nothing would shut Venus up. Without wands, most wizards were helpless. But not Lily, she was powerful enough to not need a wand. Lily raised her hand towards Venus.

"So you think you can hurt me without your wand? You really are stupid." Venus backed up as she spoke. Her voice trembled.

Lily stood with her palm facing the ceiling. Her eyes flashed a bright green and she swiftly raised her hand. As her hand went up, so did Venus. Lily dropped Venus into a chair, turned her hand to face Venus and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" The spell was a disarming spell used to disarm a wizard of his wand. Since neither of the girls had a wand, it stunned Venus, knocking the chair over, leaving Venus hanging unconscious in mid-air.

James slipped his cloak off and smiled at Lily. "I had no idea you were that potent. That was bloody brilliant." He circled Venus one last time.

Lily quickly said, "You didn't think you were the only one who can do spells without a wand did you? Venus will be fine. I'll let her down when we get back."

The two wrapped in James' cloak and crept down to the Slytherin house. Lily loved being pressed up against James' strong chest. She took in the smell of his hair and felt his hand on her back, helping to support her as they walked.

"Shh- did you hear something?" James halted and slid them both up against the nearest wall.

Filch walked by them and stopped. "Do you smell something Mrs. Norris?" Filch spoke to his cat as if she were human.

Neither of them breathed. Finally Filch gave up and rounded the next corner. Lily and James let out a sigh of relief and hurried down to the Dungeons.

"What took you two so long. Remus grew a beard waiting for you two." Sirius joked.

"You'll see when we get back to the common room." James replied.

The four found the portrait that led into the Slytherin common room and said, "Pixie Dust."

"Gee that's an original password. You would think the slimy gits would think of something a bit more manly." James, Lily and Remus all glanced at Sirius. He always kept them laughing.

It took the four of them a total of ten minutes to find the right beds and place the spells. When they were all finished, they crept back to the Gryffindor common room undetected.

Remus woke the fat lady in the portrait that led to the Gryffindor room and said, "Bludger". She sleepily let them pass, but not before muttering insults about them being rude and inconsiderate of other's sleep needs.

The common room was exactly as James and Lily had left it. The chair overturned, Venus floating in the air with her wand placed on the floor under her.

"And who, might I ask, is the artist of this magnificent picture?" Sirius inquired.

"She annoyed me." Lily smiled.

"Do you think if I woke her up that she would go to the Yule ball with me?"

"No way, if you go with her I am not going to talk to you for the rest of the year." Lily exclaimed.

"Yeah, but it will get her out of James' hair." James blushed. He hated it that Venus was always coming up with a way to be around him.

Remus and James turned the chair right side up and Lily reluctantly whispered, "Relaximus." Venus slowly slid into the chair.

"She is going to have one heck of a headache tomorrow morning." James laughed.

"Well, goodnight boys." Lily glanced at James who gave her an affectionate wink and then climbed the stairs to her bed.

"You are one lucky guy. I'd give anything to have such a powerful and not to mention gorgeous witch for a girlfriend." Remus said.

"There not officially boyfriend and girlfriend yet. You better watch out Potter, I might just steal her away." Sirius said as James threw him a punch in the arm.

It was the next afternoon and Lily, James, Remus, Snape, Sirius, Peter, Maggie, Piper Tryst and Torrence Clay were all squeezed into Professor McGonagall's office. Piper Tryst (a Slytherin 5th year), Torrence Clay (Torn for short a Slytherin 5th year) and Snape were all called to McGonagall's office for some unexplained explosions and rearranged furniture in the Slytherin Common room and dormitories. James, Remus, Sirius, Peter and Maggie were there because of their predictions in Divination. And Lily was in the office because of her "assault" on Venus.

"It's the first week of school and you have all disappointed me. I would expect nothing like this from the prefects, James Potter, Lily Evans and Severus Snape. You will all serve detention this Tuesday with Mr. Filch and Hagrid. Now Professor Auryl says that you all" Professor McGonagall pointed to Remus, Peter, Sirius and Maggie, "came up with the same predictions involving Snape. Unless these predictions are true, which I highly doubt, this means that you collaborated on your homework. You have detention on Tuesday also." Professor McGonagall eased back into her chair.

"But Professor McGonagall, the Slytherins would never purposely set off dung bombs and hang beds on the ceilings in their own dorm room." Snape contested.

"Do you expect me to believe that someone broke into the Slytherin common room? Twenty points from Slytherin, along with the other thirty I have chosen to take off for your behavior. I suggest that you say no more Severus. Sixty Points from Gryffindor, ten for each of you. That will be all."

The nine of them all stepped out of McGonagall's office. "I know it was you who broke into our house. You'll pay for this Potter." Snape's black eyes glared at James.

"No please, spare us." He laughed. " I hope you do get us back at least I won't feel so bad the next time we get you in trouble." James turned and walked towards Herbology the rest of the Gryffindor's followed.


	6. The Forbidden Waltz

It was the next afternoon and Lily, James, Remus, Snape, Sirius, Peter, Maggie, Piper Tryst and Torrence Clay were all squeezed into Professor McGonagall's office. Piper Tryst (a Slytherin 5th year), Torrence Clay (Torn for short a Slytherin 5th year) and Snape were all called to McGonagall's office for some unexplained explosions and rearranged furniture in the Slytherin Common room and dormitories. James, Remus, Sirius, Peter and Maggie were there because of their predictions in Divination. And Lily was in the office because of her "assault" on Venus.

"It's the first week of school and you have all disappointed me. I would expect nothing like this from the prefects, James Potter, Lily Evans and Severus Snape. You will all serve detention this Tuesday with Mr. Filch and Hagrid. Now Professor Auryl says that you lot" Professor McGonagall pointed to Remus, Peter, Sirius and Maggie, "came up with the same predictions involving Snape. Unless these predictions are true, which I highly doubt, this means that you collaborated on your homework. You have detention on Tuesday also." Professor McGonagall eased back into her chair.

"But Professor McGonagall, the Slytherins would never purposely set off dung bombs and hang beds on the ceilings in their own dorm room." Snape contested.

"Do you expect me to believe that someone broke into the Slytherin common room? Twenty points from Slytherin, along with the other thirty I have chosen to take off for your behavior. I suggest that you say no more Severus. Sixty Points from Gryffindor, ten for each of you. That will be all."

The nine of them all stepped out of McGonagall's office. "I know it was you who broke into our house. You'll pay for this Potter." Snape's black eyes glared at James.

"No please, spare us." He laughed. " I hope you do get us back at least I won't feel so bad the next time we get you in trouble." James turned and walked towards Herbology the rest of the Gryffindor's followed.

At promptly 10 pm the same nine students who were crammed into Professor McGonagall's office all marched in a single file line, led by Filch. "Now mind your step, I don't want any whiney, broken students tonight." Filch growled. Just as Filch growled, Torn slipped on the grass wet from dew and quickly grabbed Piper's robes. Piper lost her balance and toppled over. Snape, not watching where he was going tripped over them both and lashed out to grab the closest thing to steady himself, Sirius

Sirius who had witnessed the whole ordeal jumped back quickly, "Don't touch me you idiot!" Snape's hand grasped nothing but air and slammed on top of Piper and Torn. The six Gryffindor's burst into laughter and left the Slytherin's struggling to regain their composure. They reached Hagrid's hut and waited patiently as the large man gathered all the supplies for their detention.

Hagrid twirled his bushy beard and said, "Alrigh' I'll need. let's see 2,4,6. Yes thas' righ' I'll need 6 of em, Argus n' you can 'ave the res'"

Filch turned to the students "Three of you come with me, we'll be working in greenhouse 3, and the rest of you will go with Hagrid into the Forbidden Forest."

Snape's eyes instantly grew wider along with Torn and Piper's. "Mr. Filch, If I might say, I've had a bit more experience in the greenhouses than some of the others, I'm sure my expertise will come in handy." Snape squeaked with a nervous tone.

"Right, I'm sure your expertise will come in handy tonight, we're ridding the greenhouse of gnomes. Nevertheless I'll take the three Slytherins and you can have the rest of 'em. Filch motioned for the Slytherins to follow him and the four stalked towards the greenhouses.

"What are we doing in the Forbidden Forest Hagrid?" Lily asked as they made their way to the entrance of the forest.

"Well really I could have done this by me self but. But I though' you lot would enjoy it" Hagrid winked

The forest grew darker and darker as they traveled deeper into it. They left the main path and followed a less visible one until they finally reached a clearing. The trees had parted and left an opening where the half moon shone down on the silvery grass covering the ground.

"You'll need to be quiet an' still." Hagrid warned. Within a few minutes the leaves in a tree across the clearing began to rustle and out pranced two figures. The students were immediately entranced by the figures. They were shadowy so the group couldn't make out their exact features, yet they seemed to glow a soft purple color. The duo danced around each other, circling the clearing. As they grew near to the group, enchanting music filled the air. As the two figures grew closer, James could see that their eyes were deep black. They stood as tall as a regular student at Hogwarts. One of them, a girl, had long flowing hair that flickered with each dance step. The other, a man, was slightly taller and more muscular.

The music grew louder as the dance intensified. The dance was no longer a simple courtship but it had gone to an extreme. They seemed to be dancing with all their might.

James heart was beating so hard that he could feel it in his throat. His ears were ringing. The music that had once been enticing had become overwhelming. James thought his head was going to explode. The students one by one began to cover their ears with their hands. Lily sank to her knees. She thought her heart was going to beat out of her chest. She gave a pleading look to Hagrid.

All of a sudden, the music stopped and the couple disappeared. James rushed over to Lily and helped her up. The others gave sighs of relief as Hagrid tried to explain to them that this had never happened before. He had watched them dance before and thought that the students would enjoy it. But something had gone wrong, it was if the two figures had known about the intruders and were punishing them for watching something so sacred.

"I'm awfully sorry. I jest thought it would be summat fun to do rather 'n workin' with Filch." Hagrid said. "Are you alrigh' ?" The group was shaken up a bit but they were fine so they headed to the entrance of the Forbidden forest.

James put his arm around Lily, who was still weakened from the whole ordeal. They walked directly behind Hagrid and the rest of the group followed. When they had been walking for about five minutes, Lily spotted something out of the corner of her eye. The rest of the group must have also because they all stopped. Just ahead, about five minutes from the entrance of the Forbidden forest stood a massive tree. The trunk was a deep burgundy color. And extending from its limbs were shiny, glittering leaves. The leaves ranged in colors from emerald green, crimson and ruby red to royal blue. At the very top of the tree was a cluster of glimmering golden leaves. One of the golden leaves broke off and drifted down to the group Lily picked up the leaf and put it carefully in her robes.

"Maggie aren't they so pretty?" asked Lily.

"Those are so beautiful, why don't more people have those kind of trees in their yards? Asked Peter as the group continued their trek towards the Hogwarts school grounds.

"It's a sign of very powerful magic. It's fed by complicated spells. My grandma tried to grow one but she kept getting the spells wrong and it turned brown like a regular tree." Said Remus.

The lights were still on in the greenhouse when the group passed. "They're still at it?" asked Peter.

"Better them than us." Snickered Sirius. The students were all tired from their exertions in the Forbidden Forest so they didn't stop at the common room; they just went straight up to their beds.

James couldn't fall asleep so he threw his invisibility cloak on and crept into the Girls Dormitory room to see if Lily was still awake but he was distracted at how peaceful she looked, he couldn't disturbed her.

Lily rolled over and looked at the leaf she had collected. Light from the candle on her trunk glistened off the leaf onto her face. James sat on the trunk watching her while she sleepily dropped the leaf at the side of her bed and nodded off to sleep. James picked the glimmering leaf and placed on her pillow next to her face. He softly kissed her forehead and crept out of the room.

Just as he made his way to the common room and was about to go up the stairs to the Boy's dormitory, James heard footsteps so he threw his invisibility cloak back on and backed up against the wall. Maggie drowsily climbed down the stairs from the Girl's Dormitory and straight out of the common room. She had a dazed look on her face, which intrigued James. He had no idea what she would be leaving the Gryffindor Tower at this time of night. He figured she was just sneaking out to meet some guy or to play a prank. So he crept up to his bedroom but as he passed the window, he missed the shadowy figure walking in the moonlight to the entrance to the forbidden forest.


	7. Whos afraid of the big bad wolf?

The first month of school was finally over. The students had finally settled in for the year. October had just begun, and the students were all buzzing with excitement. The first game of the year, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin was scheduled for the end of the week, followed by the first Hogsmeade weekend and the traditional Halloween Feast in the Great Hall.

James tossed his books in his trunk, grabbed his invisibility cloak, a piece of parchment and his broom. He slammed his trunk shut and rushed out to the Owlery to visit Jinx. "Hey Jinx, sorry I haven't been able to visit lately but I'm so busy with Quidditch and everything. You know how flying goes." Jinx nipped his finger affectionately and held out her leg so James could tie the note to it.

James gave Jinx a pat on the head and scribbled:

_Meet me at the Astronomy tower at 11:00 tonight. See you soon._

James

He rushed to the locker rooms just in time to get changed and head out to the Quidditch Pitch for practice. He glanced in the mirror before he left and tried desperately to pat down his wild hair.

Lily waited outside the locker rooms for James. When he stepped out, her knees gave a little jolt. He took her by surprise every time she saw him. When he looked her way her heart beat faster. She had to fight the reaction to look around to make sure he was looking at her. Whenever his bright green eyes caught hers, she felt like she was going to explode.

James was tired from all day classes but seeing Lily rejuvenated him and he ran at her with full force. James grabbed Lily and gave her a big hug and a quick kiss.

"I got lonely walking to the pitch by myself. So I came to join you." She gave a weak smile and before she could say anything else, James stopped her by putting his hand to her mouth.

"Um, I know we haven't got to spend much time together since Quidditch training took up, but I just wanted to know if you'll be patient with me? I've got something to do tonight -" James could see the disappointment in Lily's eyes. "But I was wondering if you'd want to spend some time together this weekend?"

Lily's eyes brightened a bit, "Sure, you know this weekend is the Hogsmeade visit right?"

"Yeah, that would be perfect." James gave Lily a reassuring smile. Lily felt much better after the talk. She was beginning to think that he didn't feel the same way about her as she did about him. But now she was assured that there was something between them and that he wanted to do something about it. Quidditch practice was great. Lily and James preformed the best they had in weeks. The Gryffindor captain, Matthius Avery, a seventh year kept flying by them both giving them compliments on their excellent flying.

James, the seeker had caught the snitch a total of five times already tonight. Lily played the keeper and nothing was getting past her. The three chasers were none other than Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and the captain Matthius Avery and the two beaters were, Matilda Brim and Derrick Clay. The Gryffindor team had practiced so much that they were bored with it.

"Guys!" shouted Matthius.

"-And Ladies!" Lily and Matilda shouted playfully.

"Guys. and ladies. Practice is over. If we play the way we did today we'll definitely beat Slytherin."

The team all jammed into the locker rooms and quickly got changed. Lily rushed to get dressed and waited for James outside the boy's locker room. After about 10 minutes she felt something brush past her but couldn't see anything, so she forgot about it and walked up to the Gryffindor Tower.

James didn't want to run into Lily and upset her even more so he put his invisibility cloak on and rushed past Lily. He held his breath as he passed her outside the locker room. He hated the way she looked, so lonely and depressed, but he knew he would just depress her more if he had blown her off again.

It was about eight o'clock when Lily reached the Gryffindor common room. She ran upstairs to her four-poster bed looking for Maggie.

"Maggie! Maggie!" Lily assumed she was out hanging with other friends since Lily hadn't had much time to spend with her since Quidditch practice had started up. Lily flopped down on her bed and almost fell asleep when something caught her eye.

Underneath Maggie's bed, something was shining. Lily lifted up the blanket and felt around underneath the bed. She pulled out a pile of about 10 leaves. The same leaves from the tree in the Forbidden Forest. Lily pulled her cloak over her shoulders and set out to find Maggie and ask her how she got all those leaves.

Just as she stepped outside of the hole behind the portrait of the fat lady, Jinx, James owl hit her in the side of the arm. Lily didn't recognize Jinx because James had never used her to send Lily a letter. She slipped the letter off Jinx's leg, read it and stuffed it in her pocket.

"Thank you." Lily said as she patted Jinx on the head. Lily didn't know who would send her a letter inviting her to the astronomy tower, but she secretly hoped it was James. She didn't have anything else to do tonight and she had a few hours to think it over. Jinx flew away and Lily continued searching the castle for Maggie.

James caught up with Sirius, Remus and Peter in the great hall.

"Remus are you all set for tonight?" Sirius asked. "Peter and I will come to check on you at about 11:00 tonight. ".

Remus nodded and James said, "Peter will walk you as far as the Forbidden Forest entrance and then they'll join you at 11:00 tonight. I'll be there as soon as I can get there. I've got something to do first."

James ran off to Hagrid's hut and Sirius headed back to the Gryffindor Common room. Sirius stopped by a window in one of the corridors and looked out. Sirius watched a boy, Remus, and a rat, illuminated by the full moon, walking quickly to the entrance to the Forbidden Forest. The boy stopped at the entrance but the rat walked to the giant willow tree blocking the entrance. The willow immediately began thrashing its limbs around, barely missing the boy. The rat ran ahead and slipped underneath the massive limbs. It lifted one of its paws and hit a knob on the tree. Immediately the willow stopped thrashing around and the boy slipped in a door on the willow tree.

After seeing that Remus had made it to the Whomping Willow safely, Sirius turned around quickly to begin walking towards the Gryffindor Tower. He didn't get to move more than a foot when he hit something head on. That something was a scrawny fifth year Slytherin with greasy black hair and piercing black eyes.

"Severus! Why are you always lurking in the shadows. Don't you know it's a bad habit to follow people around?' Sirius boomed.

Snape picked himself off the ground and straightened his robes. "I know you are up to something. You and your snotty little friends. I'm going straight to the Headmaster unless you tell my what you were doing watching the boy and that rat down there! Who is that boy and how did they get past the Whomping Willow?"

"Alright calm down. I'll tell you. Actually I'll let you see for your self. At ten minutes until eleven o'clock, go down to the Whomping willow and press the knob in the middle of the trunk. That will stop the willow, and you can see for yourself what they are doing down there." Sirius gave a sly grin and jogged out of sight.

James looked around to make sure Lily wasn't there before taking his cloak off and dashing up the stairs for the boy's dormitory. He reached his bed and slammed open his trunk. He rustled a few things around before placing a rose and a box with a silver bow on it on his bed. It was a few minutes before he noticed Sirius quietly staring out the window.

"What are you doing looking out that window? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were in deep thought." James taunted. "What time is it James?" Sirius turned to look at James. "I think I've found a way to get Snape off our hands for a few weeks."

"It's twenty till eleven and how are you going to get him out of our way?" James gave a puzzled look.

"I told him how to get past the Whomping Willow tree." Sirius grinned.

"YOU DID WHAT! HOW DARE YOU TELL HIM SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" James boomed. "Do you have any idea what Remus can do to him? Are you aware of what it took for Dumbledore to allow him to come to school here and now you are going to go and ruin all of that." James face was bright red. His untamed hair seemed even wilder and his green eyes flashed in the light from the full moon shining through the window.

Sirius had a look of panic on his face. "Its just a joke James! I don't really expect him to go down there do you?" I was just trying to pay him back for always following us around and tattling on us."

James paced the floors for a few seconds and said, "He'll do anything to get one of us expelled. He _will_ go down there."

"We have to stop him. How could I have been so stupid! James you have to go help him." Sirius was shaking so hard that he had to hold himself up "I'm so sorry James. I don't know what to do. I told him to go down to the Whomping Willow at quarter till eleven. We don't have time to stop him!"

"I don't have time to listen to your apologies. We have to stop Snape before he gets to the willow." James left his packages on his bed and ran out of the room, with Sirius at his heels.

Lily climbed the stairs to the astronomy tower. She couldn't find Maggie anywhere and was beginning to worry. What she really needed was some time with James. She wished he would wrap his arms around her and listen to her troubles. She stood at the window for a few minutes getting more depressed by the minute. He's not coming. What if this is just a joke that Venus is playing on me? Why am I even here? She turned to the window and stared up at the bright October moon. Something caught her eye, running toward the entrance of the forbidden forest.

A skinny boy was walking at a hurried pace across the grounds. A giant antlered body was galloping across the grounds, followed by a jet-black dog. Lily tried to call out to the boy. Why are those animals chasing that boy? Is that James and Sirius? It has to be, there are only five students who can transform themselves into animals. So this is what he does, he blows me off to play a joke on Severus?

Lily turned her back from the window and slid down the wall. She pulled her legs closer to her body and began to cry. Her whole body shook with sobs. She couldn't believe James would do something like this to her.

Snape heard galloping footsteps behind him and he quickened his pace even more. He finally reached the Whomping willow and slid underneath one of the giant limbs aiming at his head. Loud screams echoed from the tree. He almost turned back, but he had to see what James and his friends had been doing once a month, behind the door in the Whomping willow.

The screams softened and he opened the door and stepped in. Snape found himself in a small tattered room. The walls were worn and had large claw marks across them. An old chair sat in the corner of the room, missing half a leg. Snape heard a low growl coming from a shadowy corner across the room. All he could make out were two yellow eyes and a large hairy body.

The wolf slowly stalked out of the corner and growled even louder showing its teeth. The giant wolf reared back ready to jump on Snape when the door slammed open and a stag crashed through the door. The wolf turned its attention on the stag and pounced. It latched on to one of the stag's legs. The stag kicked the wolf across the room knocking it out for a few minutes. It leaned down and pushed the stunned Snape out the door.

Snape dazed by all the confusion turned around in a circle and lost sight of the stag. Instead he found none other than James Potter standing next to him. He was shouting something at him. Something panicked. All of a sudden a big black dog grabbed Snape's sleeve and dragged him across the grounds to the Hogwarts entrance.

Snape stood up and shouted, "YOU! YOU DID THIS JAMES POTTER! You planned this out. What was that thing? It could have killed me!" Tears of anger were streaming down Snape's face "I'm going straight to the Dumbledore!"

It took all James had not to slap Snape across the face. He looked around and the big black dog had transformed back into Sirius. "I did not plan this! If anything I saved your life. I could have just let you fend for yourself with that werewolf." His heart was racing. He looked past Snape and the giant clock on the wall said 11:10. _Too late, I've missed her_.

"Oh is that what that was? So I assume that was one of your friends? I'll make sure they never come back to Hogwarts again for this!" Snape turned toward Sirius. "And you. You let him talk you into telling me how to get past the tree. Do you do everything James says?"

"I DID NOT TRY TO KILL YOU SEVERUS! SAY SOMETHING SIRIUS!" James turned towards Sirius, who said nothing. "You have nothing to say? I'm not going to be around to fix your messes all the time." James pushed himself past Snape and raced up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Tower.

James slipped in the girl's dormitory Lily was lying on her stomach, sprawled across her bed. Strangely the bed next to her's was empty. Her body rose and fell with each sob.

"Lily. Lily." James whispered. "Lily, let me explain."

She didn't answer, her sobs only got heavier. After a few minutes went by she turned her face towards the window. The light caught the tears running down her cheeks, and she managed to choke out. "Do you know what today was?"

Tears slipped from James' eyes and he quietly left the room.

Lily put her head back on her pillow and cried herself to sleep.

The jet-black dog slowly walked into the small room inside the Whomping Willow and pushed the door closed with his paw. The chair that was in the corner was ripped to shreds and the wolf lay collapsed in the corner of the room


	8. The Missing

The sun was rising above the mist that covered Hogwarts grounds. Behind the door in the Whomping willow, a Gryffindor fifth year sat curled up in the corner of the tattered room. Sirius sat across the room giving a pleading look to the other boy.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't think of what the consequences could be if I let Snape in." Sirius wrung his hands out of nervousness.

"What you did, is unforgivable. What if I had killed him? I could never forgive myself. I would never expect something like this from you. What if Dumbledore thinks I am too dangerous to attend Hogwarts anymore." Remus, the other boy, was so weak from last night that he had to stop talking to catch his breath. "If James hadn't got Snape out of this room, I might have killed him. And lucky you stayed with me last night, or I would have found a way to get out of this room."

There was a knock on the door and Dumbledore stepped in, followed by Snape. Remus dropped his head to his knees and Sirius stood up. His usually muscular body seemed somehow smaller, and he had dark circles around his eyes.

"Professor Dumbledore, Remus and James had no part in this. I did it all. I didn't think about it. I just thought Snape would get a bit of a shock." cried Sirius. Snape shot a menacing glare at Sirius.

"You thought locking me in a room with a werewolf would give me a bit of a shock?" spat Snape.

"Are you alright Remus?" Dumbledore's eyes had lost their usual spark.

"I'll be fine Professor, I'd just like to go to my room and rest a while if you wouldn't mind." Remus braced himself by putting his hand on the wall.

"Sirius, you'd better help him to his room and then report immediately to my office. The password is fiddlesticks. Severus and I will be waiting in my office for you." Dumbledore held the door open for Sirius, Remus and Snape and shut it on his way out.

James tossed and turned all night. He couldn't believe that on the day Lily needed him the most he eluded her. He needed someone to talk to. He couldn't talk to Lily because he would only upset her more. He was too furious with Sirius to even think about talking to him. Remus was probably too tired from last night to talk and James hadn't seen Peter since last night. Come to think of it, James couldn't remember seeing Peter since he opened the door of the Whomping Willow for Remus. James climbed out of bed, grabbed his robes and sulked down the stairs.

"I have to talk to Lily; I have to make her understand." He didn't mean to hurt her and he was going to do everything he could to make her forgive him.

He sat in the Gryffindor common room in one of the big fluffy chairs by the fireplace. "Incendio" James mumbled and a fire began to roar. He stared at the fire and had just dozed off when Remus and Sirius climbed through the opening behind the portrait of the fat lady.

"Remus, are you okay?" James quickly stood up.

Remus shook Sirius' hand off his shoulder and walked towards James. Sirius had a hurt look on his face but quietly passed by the two of them as he turned to go to Professor Dumbledore's Office.

"Dumbledore said I could be excused from classes today. I'm just going to bed. You should probably get ready for class." Remus had no expression on his face and no emotion when he spoke. James knew Remus was upset by last night, but James expected him to show a little more emotion.

James waited most of the morning for Lily to come down the stairs from her dorm room but she never came down. Most of the girls had come down from the dorms to go to their first class so he figured it would be safe to go up to the girl's dormitory and try to talk to Lily. He climbed the stairs and found the girl's dormitory completely empty.

"Lily must have crept by me while I was sleeping." James thought.

He gave one last look around the room before leaving and he noticed something dark brown, poking out from underneath Lily's pillow. James pulled the book out from underneath the pillow and opened it and read a few pages. There were pictures of a tall girl with the same red hair as Lily, but she was a few inches shorter and had brown eyes instead of green. There was a picture of her flying on a broomstick. They were wizarding pictures so the girl kept flying across the page. On the very bottom corner was a picture of the girl and another little girl with bright red hair and green eyes whispering to each other. The two girls would lean over and whisper to each other and then burst into giggles.

James had never met Lily's older sister, but he knew a lot about her. James turned the page and read the newspaper clippings:

Fifth Year missing from Hogwarts. Rose Evans, a fifth year student at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry has reportedly been missing since the last week in October. Evans joins three other Hogwarts students to become missing during the past ten years. Search parties have been dispatched into the Forbidden Forest and surrounding towns, but no word on Evans' whereabouts.

Another clipping said:

One-year anniversary of young girl's disappearance. It's been almost a year and there is no sign of Rose Evan's. The ministry of Magic has only a few clues to what may have caused the disappearance of this young girl. Rose, born to Muggle parents, is one of only three magical people in the Evan's family, Ivy Evans (grandmother), and younger sister, Lily Evans.

The year before Lily and James started at Hogwarts, Rose was reported missing. Lily rarely talked about it to anyone, but she and James had discussed a few times over the years. James had planned last night for them to be together so he could help take her mind off of it.

"If it weren't for Sirius, Lily would not be avoiding me right now." James thought.

James gave up and grabbed his books for Transfiguration. He couldn't skip all his classes while waiting for Lily. When she was ready to talk to him, he'd be there for her.

When James got to class, the whole room was buzzing with students. It turned out that no one had seen Maggie or Peter all night. Neither of them had returned to their beds and both of them skipped their first class.

Sirius stopped Lily on the way out of their first class to tell what had happened the night before. Lily walked along the corridor to Transfiguration contemplating what Sirius had told her and how she had reacted last night. She tried to overcome her emotions and sort out her thoughts.

"So James had planned the night for us to be together but he had to make up for Sirius's mistake. How could I be so stupid?" Lily thought to herself.

Lily was hurt by the fact that James couldn't be there for her. She knew that saving Snape's life was much more important than keeping her company. She was so mad at herself for accusing James of forgetting about her. She had so many emotions attacking her at once that she couldn't sort them all out.

"James doesn't deserve to be treated this way. I should have given him the benefit of the doubt but at the first chance I got, I assumed he didn't care about me." She thought.

Lily walked past James without looking his way; she couldn't face him after how selfish she had acted last night. Her heart hurt to see him trying to make eye contact with her. She hated the way she felt.

James watched as Lily brushed right past him. He knew she was avoiding making eye contact with him. How can I make her understand? He watched as she placed her books on the desk in front of her seat before sitting down.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Venus stand up and walk towards Lily. He tried to get up and reach Lily first. He knew what Venus was going to do. At the exact moment that James tried to stand up, Torn and Piper, the Slytherins who sat behind him in class got into a fight over the chair next to the aisle, blocking James' way. James watched helplessly as Venus spoke to Lily. He watched as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Tears began streaming down her face.

He pushed past Torn and Piper and rushed over to Lily and Venus. "-And I heard they're not even sending anyone to look for them." He caught Venus at the very end of her sentence.

"You- don't know what you're talking about!" James exploded. "Lily, I tried to get your attention, I didn't want you to find out this way."

Lily lost control of her emotions. The news of two of her friends both being missing came to her like a smack in the face. "I- can't-" and she stopped. She didn't want to talk. She needed to get away. She silently left her books along with James, Venus and the rest of the students in the classroom.

Lily spent the rest of the day in her four-poster bed in the girl's dormitory. She refused to talk to anyone- she couldn't. By the time the sun had gone down, Lily couldn't stand it anymore. She wiped her face off and crept downstairs. Just as she stepped in the common room, the clock sounded, letting her know it was 11:00. She saw James sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. He was sleeping, but he didn't have a peaceful look on his face. Lily quietly climbed in to the chair and sat on his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

James woke up and put his arms around Lily. He missed her so much; it felt perfect to have her in his arms again. He didn't know how to act around her so he kissed her forehead and held her tightly.

"They'll find them won't they?" She whispered.


End file.
